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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
Under the old law, the adopted child cannot be considered as a relative of the ascendants and collaterals of the adopting parents. The relationship created is exclusively between the adopter and the adopted, and does not extend to the relatives of either.
This case happened in the province of Catanduanes, Philippines.
CCC and DDD attended the wake of a certain “Jaru” and left AAA, their 10-year old daughter, in the house of a certain EEE. After some time, AAA went to the house of her friend’s grandmother.
When AAA was already asleep in BBB’s house, XXX, the brother of DDD, raped her, therefore, debasing, degrading and demeaning her intrinsic worth as a child and a human being. XXX only stopped when DDD called him from outside the house.
A year later, AAA recounted the rape incident to DDD’s aunt, GGG, who then relayed the same to CCC and DDD, AAA’s parents. Thenceforward, they accompanied their daughter to undergo a medical examination and to report the incident at the police station.
Based on the aforesaid facts, it appears that XXX was the AAA’s relative by consanguinity within the third civil degree and that the victim was under eighteen (18) years of age.
AAA was then brought to Dr. Gabitan for mental evaluation, who found AAA to have exhibited a “mild form of intellectual disability.”
According to him, AAA could not fully express what exactly happened to her. However, even in not a logical progression of events, AAA was able to describe a fraction of what she had experienced during the rape incident. While Dr. Gabitan could not categorically vouch for the truth of AAA’s narration, he admitted that she was consistent with her story that she was sexually abused.
For his part, XXX failed to adduce any evidence to exculpate himself from liability.
The main issues at the core of this case are:
- Whether or not AAA’s testimony is credible, considering that she had a mild form intellectual disability and
- Whether or not AAA’s minority and her relationship with the XXX is a special qualifying circumstance and raises the penalty to the supreme penalty of death.
The Supreme Court Decides:
1. AAA’s testimony is straightforward and credible.
AAA’s mental condition does not make her testimony incredible as long as she can recount her experience in a straightforward, spontaneous, and believable manner.
Further, AAA’s credible and straightforward testimony withstands scrutiny sufficient to produce a verdict of conviction, even more so, when it is corroborated with solid physical evidence. The physical examination conducted on AAA revealed that she sustained old laceration at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions in her external genitalia.
In addition, XXX was positively identified as the perpetrator of the crime. A victim who was sufficiently acquainted with their assailant due to a prior relationship or association, such as being “barriomates,” neighbors, or as the second husband of their grandmother, signifies a certain familiarity with the assailant’s physical features, which the victim may easily perceive at the time of the commission of the crime. Accordingly, even when the offense was committed under circumstances that make it difficult for the victim to ascertain the identity of the perpetrator, as in this case where AAA was raped at night, the identification of the accused is deemed credible when the victim is closely familiar with the assailant.
It cannot be gainsaid that AAA is familiar with both the physical features and the voice of XXX, being her uncle. Irrefutably, she had adequate basis to easily identify him as her abuser.
In the same vein, the fact that AAA stayed silent for a year does not imply that the accusations divulged later were false.
2. AAA’s minority and her relationship with the XXX is not a special qualifying circumstance in this case because AAA was an adopted child. The relationship established by the adoption, however, is limited to the adopting parent, and does not extend to his other relatives, except as expressly provided by law. Thus, the adopted child cannot be considered as a relative of the ascendants and collaterals of the adopting parents, nor of the legitimate children which they may have after the adoption, except that the law imposes certain impediments to marriage by reason of adoption. Neither are the children of the adopted considered as descendants of the adopter. The relationship created is exclusively between the adopter and the adopted, and do not extend to the relatives of either.
The Court is mindful that under Republic Act No. 11642, the State has unequivocally considered that the legitimate filiation created between the adopter and the adoptee shall be extended to the adopter’s parents, adopter’s legitimate siblings, and legitimate descendants.[52] Furthermore, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 11642 stipulate that the effect of adoption shall retroact to the date the petition for adoption is filed.
All the same, despite the retroactive provisions of Republic Act No. 11642, the law cannot be applied in the case of XXX as the crime was committed in 2012.
Therefore, under the old law, AAA and XXX are not related to each other. Therefore, XXX is merely guilty of statutory rape due to AAA’s minority.
Source:
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